Miranda Devine

Miranda Devine (born July 1961 [1]) is a conservative Australian columnist and writer. Her column, formerly printed twice weekly in Fairfax Media newspapers The Sydney Morning Herald and The Sun-Herald, now appears in the News Limited newspapers Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Melbourne's Sunday Herald Sun and Perth's Sunday Times. She hosted The Miranda Devine Show, a weekly syndicated radio show on Sydney station 2GB. The show ended in 2015.[2] As of early 2020, her columns appear in the New York Post.

Miranda Devine
BornJuly 1961 (age 59)
OccupationWriter
Known forPolitical writer and commentator
Children2

Early life and education

Born in New York and growing up between Tokyo and Sydney. Devine is the eldest daughter of Frank Devine, a New Zealand born Australian newspaper editor and journalist, who died in 2009. She attended school at Loreto Convent and the International School of the Sacred Heart Tokyo, has a Masters in Journalism from Northwestern University (USA) and a Bachelor of Science in Maths from Macquarie University. Devine studied first-year architecture at Sydney University and worked briefly at the CSIRO's Division of Textile Physics.[3]

Career

Devine worked for the Boston Herald as a reporter and feature writer. In 1989, Devine joined The Daily Telegraph as assistant editor, police reporter and columnist after returning to Australia to live in Sydney. She had also previously worked at British tabloid the Sun and Sunday Times in London. Most recently, Devine's columns, focused on United States politics, are published by the New York Post[4] and she makes appearances promoting her articles on local media outlets. Devine lives in Sydney with her husband and two sons.[3]

Commentary

Devine is noted for her conservative stance on a range of social and political issues, including Catholicism, and this approach has proved controversial at times. She has been critical of some conservative politicians, such as former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, and in April 2016 she coined the term "delcon" (delusional conservative) to describe some of his uncritical diehard supporters.[5][6]

Race

In 2002, Devine opined in the Sydney Morning Herald that the racial element of the Sydney gang rapes had been "airbrushed" out of the media coverage of the events. She stated that the victims alleged that prosecutors had intentionally "censored" their official statements to remove any mention of racially sensitive material.[7] Devine has also been accused by the Guardian and the Sydney Morning Herald of promoting the white genocide conspiracy theory and described as pivotal in popularising the concept within Australian politics.[8] Referring to white South African refugees as "oppressed white, Christian, industrious, rugby and cricket-playing Commonwealth cousins", she has claimed they would "integrate seamlessly" with European Australians.[9]

Environment

Devine suggested in 2009 that conservationists were to blame for the poor management of forested areas and national parks, and consequently for the deaths during the Black Saturday bushfires event.[10] This rhetoric was revived during the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season,[11] but promptly rejected by the scientific and firefighting community.[12][13] In 2017, she claimed that shared bicycle schemes were a terror threat.[14] Devine is also a climate change denier, advocating for the continuation of coal-fired electricity production and she has repeatedly stating that climate change is a political conspiracy.[15]

Motherhood

In 2011, Devine used the news of Australian federal government minister Penny Wong's decision to parent a child with her female partner as the basis of a column in which she argued that the 2011 riots in England were the result of a "fatherless society".[16][17] Devine sparked further controversy in 2015 after claiming that "women abusing welfare" were the main cause of domestic violence. According to Devine, "If you want to break the cycle of violence, end the welfare incentive for unsuitable women to keep having children to a string of feckless men".[18]

George Pell

In 2019, Devine defended George Pell, at the time facing charges of which he was ultimately acquitted related to the sexual assault of two 13-year-old boys, claiming that the victim's "accusations are implausible" and that "Victoria police chief Graham Ashton desperate for a distraction from the crime epidemic he’s incapable of stopping".[19]

References
  1. Devine, Frank (2009). Popping fifty corks. Quadrant, May 2009. Reprinted in: Devine, Frank (2009). Old & wiser: essays 2002 – 2009. Sydney: Quadrant Books. ISBN 9780980677805.
  2. Christensen, Nic (21 January 2016). "Miranda Devine pulls plug on Sunday night's Radio 2GB 'The Miranda Devine Show'". Mumbrella. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  3. "Miranda Devine". QandA. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  4. https://nypost.com/author/miranda-devine/
  5. Kelly, Dominic. "Tony Abbott and the revenge of the 'delcons'". The Conversation.
  6. Miranda Devine, "Tony Abbott lovers call me the wicked witch of the left", Daily Telegraph, April 12, 2016.
  7. Devine, Miranda (13 July 2002). "Racist rapes: Finally the truth comes out". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 30 July 2006.
  8. White genocide:
  9. "AllLivesMatter – white lives too". Spectator Australia. 16 March 2018.
  10. "Green ideas must take blame for deaths". 12 February 2009.
  11. "Barnaby Joyce says NSW bushfire dead 'most likely' voted for the Greens". 12 December 2019.
  12. "Rural Fire Service boss rejects Barnaby Joyce's bushfire theory". 8 January 2020.
  13. "Why wasn't there more prescribed burning, and would it have helped?". 6 January 2020.
  14. City share bikes are a terrorist’s best friend, Daily Telegraph, 28 October 2017.
  15. Smart meters energy crisis not reducing bills or..., Daily Telegraph, 7 February 2018.
  16. Devine, Miranda (14 August 2011). "The Problems of a Fatherless Society". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
  17. Deveny, Catherine (17 August 2011). "Why equal rights activists need Miranda Devine more than rallies". The Drum. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  18. Noyes, Jenny (28 September 2015). "Miranda Devine column prompts domestic violence survivors to share #UnsuitableWomen stories". The Vine.
  19. Meade, Amanda. "News Corp columnists declare Cardinal Pell innocent and 'a scapegoat'". The Guardian. The Guardian. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
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